Florida Banking August/September 2025

PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

WASHINGTON UPDATE KEEPING FOCUS AND SEIZING OPPORTUNITY!

BY KATHY KRANINGER, FBA PRESIDENT AND CEO

In politics as in life, you have to be able to “separate the signal from the noise.” Our brains are designed to do this – think about the world our eyes take in every day, ignoring a sea of faces we don’t recognize in a crowd while pulling out someone we didn’t expect to see and shouting their name. Similarly, as we are bombarded by the many voices and messages coming out of Washington, we remain laser focused on the opportunities to advance our public policy goals. With the President’s deregulation initiative, the hard work of FBA – alongside ABA, ICBA and our peer state banking associations – is bringing results. The current Administration and Congress are keenly interested in eliminating unnecessary, burdensome rules and unleashing economic growth. And in short order: • Congress negated the CFPB’s overdraft rule and the OCC’s merger rule. •CFPB has asked courts to vacate its medical debt and section 1033 rulemakings. • CFPB has announced it is revisiting its section 1071 rule while the court has stayed enforcement of the current rule. •Federal banking regulators have proposed the rescission of the 2023 Community Reinvestment Act rule. •FDIC has withdrawn proposals on brokered deposits, executive compensation and corporate governance. •Federal banking regulators removed subjective reputation risk from examination guidance. • Federal banking regulators have signaled interest in exercising any authority under current law to adjust and index regulatory thresholds for inflation and risk, proposing rules to that end. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is law, providing tax certainty through making significant tax provisions permanent like the Section 199A pass-through deduction rate of 20 percent. In a major victory for our collective advocacy efforts, the bill included a modified

version of the ACRE Act, under which banks will be permitted to exclude from gross income 25 percent of interest income derived from certain qualified real estate loans without a sunset date. ACRE enables bankers to serve their communities better and starts to level the playing field with farm credit. While credit union taxation was not included, key committees have been looking into whether credit unions have strayed from their mission and their non-profit status as we have suggested. Stadium naming rights, fair lending violations, commercial bank acquisitions, commercial lending activity, nationwide membership, and tax exemptions for credit union service organization activities require scrutiny. Congress is already working on another reconciliation bill, and we will continue to beat this drum. Easing the path for de novo bank formation remains a significant priority for FBA, and the door is open with Chairman French Hill’s initiative to Make Community Banking Great Again. We are working with members of Congress and the Administration on proposals to do exactly that, with the experience and input of our many entrepreneurial Florida bankers. Overall, we are seeking ways to level the playing field between banks and our growing roster of competitors – credit unions, fintechs, neobanks, private lenders, crypto firms, big tech. Major proposals around affordable housing, insurance (particularly the National Flood Insurance Program), and establishing the U.S. as a leader in the digital asset space are moving. Policymakers are also paying attention as we highlight ways to counter the overwhelming fraud and scam activity plaguing our customers and weighing down our institutions. We are at the table, bringing the interests of Florida’s bankers in serving our communities and customers. Please contact me any time with concerns, questions and ideas. I love hearing from you to better hone our engagement in Washington.

WWW.FLORIDABANKERS.COM AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2025 — 5